UFC News & FeaturesRivalries: Aleksandar Rakic
While Aleksandar Rakic remains a Top 5 fixture in the Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight division, he has work to do in order to fortify his position as a viable title contender.
The physically imposing 6-foot-5 American Top Team export will put his skills to the test when he squares off with Magomed Ankalaev in a featured UFC 308 attraction this Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Winless since March 2021, Rakic enters the cage on the heels of back-to-back losses. Even so, the 32-year-old Vienna, Austria, native has compiled a respectable 6-3 record across his nine assignments in the UFC.
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As Rakic approaches his pivotal battle with Ankalaev at 205 pounds, a look at a few of the rivalries that have helped shape his career to this point:
Francimar Barroso
The Austrian newcomer proved he belonged at the sport’s highest level and pitched a shutout in his first Octagon appearance, as he captured a unanimous decision from the former Shooto Brazil champion as part of the UFC Fight Night 115 undercard on Sept. 2, 2017 at Ahoy Rotterdam in Rotterdam, Netherlands. All three cageside judges scored it the same: 30-27 for Rakic. Barroso enjoyed some success with low kicks and a pair of second-round takedowns, but he accomplished little else of note. Operating in the shadows of the Alexander Volkov-Stefan Struve main event, Rakic carved into the Brazilian with jabs, leg kicks, overhand rights, uppercuts and stabbing straight rights to the body. The variety was overwhelming, had Barroso reeling on more than one occasion and ultimately resulted in his downfall.
Volkan Oezdemir
The Swiss kickboxer curried the requisite favor on the scorecards with a strong third round and escaped with a contentious split decision over Rakic in the UFC Fight Night 165 co-headliner on Dec. 21, 2019 at Sajik Arena in Busan, South Korea. All three judges turned in 29-28 scores: Evan Field for Rakic, Mark Collett and Anthony Dimitriou for Oezdemir. Rakic connected with the more consequential strikes, secured the fight’s only takedown and made a pass at a guillotine choke in the first round, but his efforts went for naught. He outlanded Oezdemir by a 75-63 margin in significant strikes and accrued more than two and a half minutes of control time in what his first defeat in more than eight years.
Anthony Smith
Crushing leg kicks and stifling positional control spurred Rakic to a unanimous decision over the former Cage Fury Fighting Championships and Victory Fighting Championship titleholder Smith in the UFC Fight Night 175 main event on Aug. 29, 2020 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Scores were 30-26, 30-27 and 30-27. Outside of an overhand right he landed early in the second round, Smith was uncharacteristically inept offensively. Rakic chopped at his lower leg with repeated kicks, then punished him when he attempted to alter the direction of the fight with clinches and takedowns. He assumed top position in all three rounds and chipped away with ground-and-pound to the head, body and legs, all while a sense of resignation began to envelop Smith and his corner.
Jiri Prochazka
The former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight titleholder dispatched Rakic with punches in the second round of their featured UFC 300 prelim on April 13, 2024 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Prochazka drew the curtain 3:17 into Round 2, as he bounced back from his knockout loss to Alex Pereira five months prior. Nevertheless, he endured some initial suffering. Rakic tortured him with devastating kicks to the lower leg for much of the first five minutes, forcing him to switch stances. Prochazka was unfazed. He wobbled Rakic with right hands on multiple occasions in the second round, eventually set him on skates and gave chase with follow-up punches and a knee strike to the head along the fence. It was the beginning of the end. Rakic collapsed in the center of the cage, absorbing a barrage of elbows and punches before he turned away from contact. A few more punches fell before referee Herb Dean elected to intervene. It was the first legitimate knockout loss of Rakic’s career.
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